Hale'iwa Harbor & Waimea bay

Departed Pokai bay at 7:30am, motoring in zero winds up the west coast bound for Hale'iwa Harbor on the north side of Oahu. An awesome morning, sapphire blue Pacific seas, towering Oahu coastal mountain range towards Ka'ena Point, the most western point of Oahu before rounding and the easy a short way up the north coast to Hale'iwa Harbor. A short 3 hour run...another difficult office day!!!

Anchored in 10ft just outside the inner harbor breakwater with just 'one thing' on our mind! "Find Hale'iwa Joe's and sample their famous Mai Tai's...Oh well, we may as well have brunch too, right?!"
Back to Wheytogo, adjust the anchor and settle down to dinner, a bottle of Laetitia Pinot and another glorious sunset.

Saturday morning saw us wakened by canoe racing, airport powered parachutists and of course from this town on Oahu Nth shore...pleasure and charter boats heading out for a day's fishing or shark diving in huge cages.

Departing at 10:00am for Waimea Bay to anchor for another couple of days. Some snorkeling perhaps in the small paradise cove?

The Kiwi was abandoned on board to do the 'office' domestics and make another 90 gals of water whilst the Commodore (Sharon) and Fernando paddle boarded to shore (no dinghies allowed at this site), carrying phones (camera} in a dry bag on the paddle-board, for a leisurely 4.5 mile walk up to the Waimea gardens and the renowned Waimea falls. An exotic, shady, dark green botanical garden, nestled among black and red cliffs of lava rock, was filled with stunning varieties of ginger, unusual palms, taro and many other colorful tropical plants and enormous umbrella "monkey pod" trees, which provided cooling shade on the meandering walk to the falls.

After a cooling treat of refreshing tropical juices and purple (taro) French fries, it was time for the walk back to the boat. Returning to the boat required a little extra effort, paddling against the surf and oncoming waves. Back on board, it was time for a refreshing swim and snorkel in the warm, late afternoon sun.

A lovely local young woman who crews on a tourist catamaran swam up and shared great info about snorkeling sites and caves, even offering to be our tour guide.

The Hawaiian locals have been consistently warm and friendly everywhere we go. Another picture-perfect evening followed, during which the 2 alpha males on board competed with each other to capture the best sunset photos, even including a sunlit bottle of rum for special effects!

The beaches emptied at sunset, and we were left in a quiet bay on a gentle rocking cradle, sitting out on the back deck in a warm tropical breeze, staring up at an explosion of stars in a clear sky with the faintest hint of residual gold on the distant western horizon, captivated, mesmerized, once again, and so very grateful for the privilege of being in this place.